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Tag Archives: virus

The story of the human species is being told in our guts, and we need intrepid explorers to chart and decipher the narrative. These explorers are not limited to the laboratory or field research; they can be found in offices, grocery stores, gyms, coffee shops, and brew pubs. A gut explorer is the guy the … Continue reading →

I’m super excited to announce the arrival of Thinking Like a Phage, a beautiful and insightful book about the most abundant life form on the planet: viruses – specifically bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria. Written by Merry Youle, who is not only my personal hero but whose life trajectory shows that you can do really … Continue reading →

Many years ago most scientists believed that simply mapping out all the human genes would allow us to predict how our bodies worked. “Cracking the DNA code” that makes up the human genome would usher in a new era of health and human advancement. It hasn’t happen yet for a number of reasons. One of … Continue reading →

Ancient humans were as obsessed with their bodies as the average American, but they thought big. They saw how an eye could create a river. They determined that a rib held up the sky. They figured the sun and the moon were the heads of decapitated twin gods. They knew the body was everything, but … Continue reading →

1.0 GUTS OF THE MATTER We are all split. From the moment a haploid sperm cell meets a haploid egg cell, the resulting diploid cell’s very existence depends on its being able to split—divide. For the first act of creation, a rift is formed in cellular DNA: the double helix is ripped apart to be … Continue reading →

0.1 INTRODUCTION In this story, you have a chip implanted in your neck that takes constant measurements of your pulse, blood sugar, physical exercise, and feeds it to your smart phone. In this story, before you travel, you go to the doctors not for vaccines but for an organ transplant that is closer in genetics … Continue reading →